Friday, June 3, 2011

OBAMA NAMES TWO KENYANS AS MOST NOTORIOUS DRUG KINGPINS

Cyrus Ombati

US President Barrack Obama has directed sanctions against Kilome MP Harun Mwau and businesswoman Naima Mohammed Nyakiniywa aka Mama Lela under the US Kingpin Act which, among other things include seizure of their property under US jurisdiction.

Obama also issued similar directives against five other nationals from Mexico, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Nyakiniywa alias Mama Lela has three different passports and is among three Kenyans being held in Tanzania after being found with five kilos of cocaine valued at Sh22 million.

The three Kenyans were seized in Dar es Salaam's Mbezi suburbs beach. Police are also said to have seized three vehicles belonging to the suspects. Three other Tanzanians were arrested in the operation.

The officers said Nyakiniywa had the haul of cocaine that she intended to sell to locals. She has been on the run from Kenya where she is wanted for a number of drug trafficking cases.

Anti-narcotics officials in Nairobi said she is also linked to a case in which a Kenyan is fighting extradition to Germany over drug trafficking.

Under the US laws, the Kingpin Act blocks all property and interests in property, subject to US jurisdiction, owned or controlled by significant foreign narcotics traffickers as identified by the President.

The sanctions are contained in a letter sent by President Obama to the US congress dated June 1, 2011. The letter is posted on the White House official website.

Under the US laws, the Kingpin Act blocks all property and interests in property, subject to U.S. jurisdiction, owned or controlled by significant foreign narcotics traffickers as identified by the President.

Mwau is among four members of Parliament who were investigated over drug trafficking by police last year and a report tabled in parliament exonerating them all from the illegal trade.

Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti later announced that the report he presented in Parliament was a preliminary document, implying that an investigation against them was still underway.

Former US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said investigators from his country were in Kenya assisting local police in the drug trafficking investigations against the MP’s and other individuals suspected to traffic in narcotics.

The letter appears on the official White House website as follows:

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

June 01, 2011

Letter from the President on the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act

This report to the Congress, under section 804(a) of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901-1908 (the "Kingpin Act"), transmits my designations of the following seven foreign individuals as appropriate for sanctions under the Kingpin Act and reports my direction of sanctions against them under the Act: